Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson fields questions -- some of them not so tough -- in his first Twitter town hall

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- As the primary approaches, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson is trying to connect with city residents in a new way.

For a half-hour on Wednesday, Jackson answered eight questions, submitted by Twitter users in response to city solicitations, in a series of live videos broadcast on the city's Twitter account. City Hall billed the event as a "Twitter town hall."

A city spokesman said more town halls are planned. The social-media experiment happens to coincide with the ongoing election cycle -- the primary is on Sept. 12, with the top-two finishing candidates moving on to a run-off election in November.

The questions ranged from the serious -- the Cleveland Cavaliers' recent decision to pull the plug on a deal to upgrade Quicken Loans Arena, Jackson's often maligned plan to build a dirt-bike track on the city's East side -- to the whimsical -- Jackson's middle name (George) and a question from Moondog, a Cavs' mascot, about the city's "suffocating" leash laws.

Here are some of the questions, and a brief summary of Jackson's answers.

Why did the city lose The Q deal?

Jackson said the deal was a "great deal" for Cleveland, but the Cavaliers pulled out after an effort by critics to get a referendum on the ballot delayed the project's timeline.

"By the time there would have been a referendum on the ballot and a vote, then this probably would not have gotten started until maybe the second quarter of next year at the earliest," Jackson said.

Do you think building a dirt-bike track will solve the city's problems with illegal dirt-bike riders?

Jackson said the city has stepped up its enforcement efforts against people illegally riding dirt-bikes in the streets. He defended his plan to spend $2 million on a dirt-bike track, saying it would help take something illegal and channel it into something legitimate.

"At the end of the day, I believe a dirt bike track and investing in young people who view this as their sport will go a long way toward being innovative in bringing them in to doing things in a proper way," Jackson said.

He did not address the status of the project, which has drawn complaints from neighbors and more generally, from residents attending community events geared around the elections.

What is Cleveland doing to make the city more bike-friendly and walkable?

Jackson said the city has added 94 miles of bike lanes since he became mayor 12 years ago, and is set to add another 16 miles this year. He said his chief of operations, Darnell Brown, oversees the city's efforts to incorporate bike lanes into road projects, and coordinate with the MetroParks to connect city neighborhoods with the park district's new bike trails.

How can apartment residents recycle?

Residents of single-family homes and duplexes can use blue bins distributed through the city's curbside recycling program. But not apartment-dwellers or other residents of multi-family buildings.

Jackson said the city tried to set up dumpsters for apartment buildings, but ran into issues of people dumping all kinds of things, including tires, in them.

"We're working on how to allow for that best to happen ... but we haven't come up with a good answer," he said.

What about the city's "oppressive" leash laws?

Responding to Moondog's query, Jackson said the question cast a new light on the issue for him.

"I never thought of it that way from a dog's perspective I guess from a dog's perspective, I wouldn't want a leash on me either," Jackson said. "But on the other side of the coin, there are laws that require dogs to be on a leash or in some way controlled so that they don't wind up biting someone."